Cimpor: boosted by Brazil

04 March 2011

Cimpor increased turnover by 7% in 2010 to €2239.4m, boosted by strong performances in Brazil, Turkey and China, but partially offset by the decline in Spain. The EBITDA advanced at a slower pace, increasing by 3.9% to €629.8m. The trading profit improved by 8.6% to €409.7m and with a 3.9% reduction in the net financial charge, the pre-tax profit rose by 11.1% to €348.5m. A 42.1% rise in the tax charge and a 14.8% higher minorities charge left the net attributable profit just 2.0% ahead at €241.8m. The net debt at the end of December was 8.1% lower at €1561.6m and the gearing level fell from 88.3% to 73.2%. Capital expenditure was reduced by 24.7% to €163.8m.

Group cement and clinker volume increased by 3.2% to 28.27Mt as increases in Brazilian, Turkish and Chinese production more than compensated for reductions elsewhere. The group cement capacity was increased by 4.0% during the year to 42.9Mt and the clinker capacity by 2% to 28.1Mt. The group aggregates tonnage declined by 8.2% to 12.76Mt as deliveries fell in Portugal, Spain and South Africa, though they did rise by 42.4% in Turkey. Ready-mixed concrete deliveries were down by 7.5% to 6.72Mm³ and sales of dry mortar were down by 12.7% at 0.47Mt as Iberian volumes fell and Brazilian volumes were barely stable. Turnover from trading and shipping more than doubled to €147.9m and the profit contribution rose by 52.1% to €9.7m.

The Portuguese turnover eased by 1.6% to €441.4m and the EBITDA declined by 6.9% to €139.3m. Cement and clinker production at the Portuguese plants increased by 7.2% to 4.56Mt, of which 1.4Mt were exported. Cement demand continued to fall in Portugal, with aggregates shipments falling by 12.1% to 5.65Mt, ready-mixed concrete deliveries declining by 8.5% to 2.06Mm³ and mortar sales by 8.9% to 122,000t. In Spain, turnover fell by 17.1% to €272.5m and the EBITDA dropped by 30.2% to €32.5m. Cement deliveries fell by 9.3% to 2.86Mt, with the aggregates volume falling by 14.1% to 4.23Mt, ready-mixed concrete deliveries dropping by 36.2% to 1.30Mm³ and mortar sales by 28.4% to 143,000t. Galicia has been less badly hit than Andalucia, but prices are under pressure across Spain.

Egypt remains the main profit earner in the Near East, but cement volumes in the country did fall by 11.9% to 3.66Mt, where turnover eased by 5.8% to €226.6m and the EBITDA fell by 16.9% to €86.9m. In Morocco, cement deliveries declined by 3.5% to 1.14Mt and the turnover edged ahead by 0.3% to €94.5m but the EBITDA eased by 0.7% to €41.6m. The Moroccan EBITDA margins were, however, the highest in the group at 44%. The Tunisian cement sales rose by 7.6% to 1.74Mt, with the turnover advancing by 11.7% to 78m and the EBITDA rising by 18.3% to €23.3m. Turkey generated a turnover 43.7% higher at €154.5m and an EBITDA 98.7% ahead at €22m. Cement deliveries rose by 32.1% to 2.88Mt, aggregates shipments jumped by 42.4% to 1.72Mt and ready-mixed concrete deliveries rose by 25.1% to 1.09Mm³.

Brazil is now the largest contributor to the group in terms of sales, profits and cement volume. Turnover rose by 42.5% to €609.2m and the EBITDA jumped by 55.1% to €190.9m, helped by additional capacity and a 16% currency appreciation. Cimpor out-performed in a strong market and cement shipments rose by 17.5% to 5.33Mt and ready-mixed deliveries improved by 17.9% to 1.50Mm³. Brazil is also the largest producer of dry mortar in the group, having manufactured 209,000t in the year (-0.1%).

South African turnover declined by 5.2% to €144.8m and the EBITDA came off by 16.4% to €58.9m. Cement volumes fell by 19.5% to 1.15Mt and the aggregates tonnage dropped by 30.9% to 0.57Mt. In Mozambique, the turnover improved by 8.8% to €88.1m, but the EBITDA declined by 4.1% to €11.4m, with the cement volume advancing by 13.7% to 0.88Mt. In the Cape Verde Islands, cement volumes improved by 4.3% to 0.23Mt, but the turnover drifted by 0.6% and the EBITDA came off by 4.3% to €3.7m.

In China, turnover rose by 30.8% to €106.1Mt and the EBITDA jumped by 87.7% to €8.9m, with the Chinese volumes rising by 13.7% to 4.11Mt, helped by the new Zaozhuang integrated works, commissioned during the year. China is now Cimpor’s third cement market in terms of volume, after Brazil and Portugal. In India, increased competition led to lower prices and bad weather hit volumes with the result that shipments fell by 15.8% to 0.95Mt, turnover eased by 8.9% to €48.2m and the EBITDA dropped by 56.4% to €4.3m.
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